Showing posts with label production. Show all posts
Showing posts with label production. Show all posts

Lake Wells in WA Source of Australia's First Potash Production

Australian potash
Potash production has begun in Western Australia at Lake Wells. A research project with the University of Western Australia in the School of Agriculture and Environment will test the potash on various WA soil types, so Australian Potash will be able to more effectively advise Australian farmers.

Biomass is the Wrong Way forward

Much has been said about the adoption of biomass technology to replace wind and solar energy production. Biomass involves the burning of sugars, starches and oils from crops to make biodiesel and ethanol. The cost of gathering this waste has not been factored in. Wind and solar need maintenance but for the most part they just sit there and do their job.

Farmers have simply left waste in the fields - ultimately burning or plowing them in. They do not see money in gathering up the left overs from crops. Environmentally, biomass looks good. However, financially they are a no-go. Who will pay a higher price for electricity? Charges are already extremely high using coal which is just dug from the ground.

The biggest problem is that biomass involves burning while wind and solar do not. Just substituting biomass for widely available conventional fossil fuels is not a an ideal move forward. This is like electric cars which are only substitutes for petrol motor vehicles - a poor and inefficient one at that.

Saying that biomass can be made from wood and straw and could reduce the use of normal fossil fuels is a mistake. It is not as if oil is running out: it isn't. Australia is a "bowl" of natural resources. We do not have to be efficient with industrial waste like European countries which have to import oil.

To make biomass productive will take capital that Australia does not have. This country has a large deficit. It caused the Coalition government to abandon the carbon tax and redistribute savings back to the consumer. After tax collection costs, the government got very little income from the tax. It is simply not rational for Australia to abandon coal in power generation when other countries do nothing to reduce carbon emissions.
Technology by Ty Buchanan
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Aluminium Once Cost More Than Gold

The metal that could only be made in large quantities when electricity became widely available was once valued more than gold. Eight per cent of the Earth's crust is made up of mineral aluminium such as potassium aluminium sulfate. This was used in times past for fire-proofing and tanning of leather.

Today, it is in baking powder and aftershave. The refinement into aluminum metal wasn't theorized until the late 19th century. Hans christian Oersted created the first sample of the metal in 1825. It was highly contaminated. Sodium was then used by Henri Saint-Claire Deville to produce more. In 1845 scientists found it to be extremely light in weight. By 1855 small ingots were made and its price skyrocketed. Indeed, Napoleon 111 valued his aluminium cutlery more the the gold alternative.

Electrolysis was the major breakthrough in the production of large quantities of aluminium. Bauxite was identified as the best and plentiful source material. The price fell 80 per cent almost immediately as it became the cheapest metal available. The price fall is notable: $US1,200 a kilo in 1852 to $US1.00 in the 20th century for the same amount.
Science by Ty Buchanan

Free-Range Eggs Definition Questioned by ACCC

Law is just pedantic. Legal proceedings are to be undertaken to define the precise meaning of "free to roam" chicken. Can chicken roam freely when they are packed into barns? The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is arguing that the high population density of barn chicken prevents them roaming freely. Turi Foods, Baiada Poultry and the Australian Chicken Meat Federation are accused of misleading advertising.

The court case could fall either way. There is no doubt television adds showing chicken wandering with large spaces between them are not showing the true condition. However, a chicken is free to move if another chicken moves out of the way first in normal barn chicken egg production. Of course free-range chicken supporters are in favor of the ACCC action.

There isn't much doubt that the real truth about barn production is not being shown in the advertisements. Other products are also not telling the truth in advertising either and the ACCC is not going after them. For example, hamburgers shown in adverts have plastic and paint in them and they are shown larger than actual size. Perhaps the Government is at fault here - there are no clear guidelines on what free range actually means.
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Agriculture